Dragonkin
Dragonkin ''' are people who think they are dragons in the body of humans or dragons reborn as humans. The belief that one is a dragon in the body of a human is called '''draconityTomorrowlands: Draconity (from draco, Latin for dragon, and unity or identityVaris Draconity-Blog: Was ist Draconity? (German)). Dragonkin are part of the Otherkin-subculture, whose members identify as mythical creatures, as opposed to therians, who identify as real animals. Those subcultures have been classified as religious movementsJoseph P. Laycock, “We Are Spirits of Another Sort”: Ontological Rebellion and Religious Dimensions of the Otherkin Community, Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions, Vol. 15, Nr. 3 (Februar 2012), p. 65–90, University of California Press. History Otherkin culture emerged out of elven online communities of the nineties and later extended to other mythical creatures like dragons.Polson, Willow (2003), The Veil's Edge: Exploring the Boundaries of Magic, Citadel Press, p. 95, ISBN 0-8065-2352-2. The first dragonkin community was the usenet-group alt.fan.dragons, which was originally founded in 1993 by ExistingPhantom as a group for fans of dragons from literature and pop culture, but attracted more and more people who identified as dragonsLupa (2007), A Field Guide to Otherkin, Immanion Press, S. 25–26, 50, 52, ISBN 978-1-905713-07-3, with other users voicing scepticism agianst those claimsGypsyamber Berg-Cross, "Human-Dragons??," alt.fan.dragons, December 14th 1993. By Juni 1994, about half of the alt.fan.dragons users identified as dragonsColin Pascal, “Dragon poll,” alt.fan.dragons, June 18th 1994. Alt.fan.dragons was shortened as AFD, which evolved into the alternative name AlfandriaO. Scribner, Otherkin Timeline: The recent history of elfin, fae, and animal people, v. 2.0 . More Dragonkin-websites and forums were created over the nineties and later. Variations There are different interpretations about the way dragonkin are related to dragons. Some see themselves as reincarnation of a dragon and still remember parts of their former life as a dragon. Others think they are born in a body of the wrong species, similar to how Transgender people are born in a body of the wrong sexLupa (2007), A Field Guide to Otherkin, Immanion Press, p. 25–26, 50, 52, ISBN 978-1-905713-07-3. Still others think they are descendants of dragonsMichelle Belanger, Father Sebastiaan (2004), The Psychic Vampire Codex: A Manual of Magick and Energy Work, Weiser Books, ISBN 1-57863-321-4. Many dragonkin and other otherkin believe that there are multiple parallel realities and that they originate from one of themKirby, Danielle (2006), "Alternative Worlds: Metaphysical questing and virtual community amongst the Otherkin", in: Frances Di Lauro, Through a Glass Darkly: Collected Research, Sydney University Press, ISBN 1920898549. Those parallel worlds are oftentimes reminiscent of classic High Fantasy worlds like Middle Earth or Alagaësia, but are not identical to any particular world from any particular work. Some even claim that they are able to return to their world in their dreams or can shapeshift into a dragonRaven Digitalis (2008), Shadow Magick Compendium: Exploring Darker Aspects of Magickal Spirituality, Llewellyn Worldwide, p. 178, ISBN 0-7387-1318-XLupa (2007), A Field Guide to Otherkin, Immanion Press, p. 25–26, 50, 52, ISBN 978-1-905713-07-3. Some dragonkin identify themselves as other dragon species such as WyvernkinTumblr: Wyvernkin or AmphitherekinTumblr: HoardingMemories. At least one dragonkinDragons Wiki: Dragonkin - Comment, a banker who goes by the name Eva Tiamat Medusa, has taken steps to make her own body more dragon-like, with a flattened nose, 8 implanted horns, eyeballs tattooed green, scales tattooed on her skin and the removal of her outer ears. After being diagnosed with HIV, she didn't want to die as a humanMail Online: Transsexual 'dragon lady' who was born a man reveals how an HIV diagnosis inspired her to morph into a reptile, complete with a forked tongue and HORNS - because she 'didn't want to die a human. Dragon Code Some Dragonkin and other Otherkin/Therian use a so called Dragon Code to show others who they are. Dragon Code is a code that shows in short form, what kind of creature you are, if other people know about your draconity, which color they have, how old they are, what's their breath weapon etcTomorrowlands: The Official Dragon Code Page. It was designed in 1996 by Red DragonDDragon: The Dragon Code. Example: DC.D s--- MR a++++ WL++* FTomorrowlands: The Official Dragon Code Page Translation: D = race: dragon, s--- = social: nobody knows, MR = color: metallic red, a++++ = age: ancient, WL++* = limbs: four legs and a pair of wings, F = breath weapon: fireTomorrowlands: The Official Dragon Code Page In the year 1999, the dragon code was revised. Signatures in Revised Dragon Code start with DC2, to differentiate them from the old dragon code The Revised Dragon Code: Official Information Page. Personality traits Typical personality traits of dragonkin includeOtherkin-Wiki: Dragonkin: *antisocial, only wish contact with other dragonkin *secretive and withdrawn from other people *hoarding things other people would consider worthless *like shiny or valuable things Those personality traits are not universal for all dragonkin and can vary. Most dragonkin, like all otherkin, live normal lifes with normal jobs, but often feel like strangersKrahsahn: Otherkin (German). Further reading *Dragonkin at the Otherkin-Wiki *Between Forest and Sea: A History of the Draconic Community - 1993 to 2000 *Between Forest and Sea: A History of the Draconic Community - 2001 to present Quellen de:Dragonkinro:Dragonkin Category:Humanoid Dragons